


Waxing, Waning

by GlitterInk



Category: Final Fantasy XIV
Genre: 5.3 spoilers, Adventure, Angst, Enemies to Lovers, F/M, FFxivWrite2020, Fluff, Friendship, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Pining, Tumblr: FFXIVwrite2020
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-02
Updated: 2020-09-07
Packaged: 2021-03-06 21:14:54
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 1,463
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26255500
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GlitterInk/pseuds/GlitterInk
Summary: Exercises from Moen Moen's #FFXIVWrite2020 challenge. Read more about it! https://ffxiv-write.carrd.co/Rating may change and characters/tags may be added in the future.
Relationships: Gaius van Baelsar/Original Character, Gaius van Baelsar/Warrior of Light
Kudos: 9
Collections: #FFxivWrite Final Fantasy 30 Day Writing Challenge - Complete Works





	1. Crux

With Spagyrics freshly out of the cure for an existential crisis, the Warrior of Darkness was left to her own holistic avenues to alleviate the burden of knowledge imparted by Hythlodaeus. Notwithstanding the great irony of the sun’s incarnation manifesting in a Keeper of the _Moon_ , the ascension from figurative to literal godliness was scarcely well documented.

In every sense but the physical, she was alone.

The path less traveled wouldn’t lead back to the woods where she stole her first breath, nor the battlefield she gave her last, but a conclusion drawn in spite of her allies’ superficial sameness:

You might share your meals, quarters, and visions with them, but you are not like them. You might share your dreams, hopes, and fears with them, but **you are not like them**.

Thus when you got right down to it, the hero’s fundamental unhappiness was as permanent as the life-sustaining star etched into her very soul:

The curse of the wanderer was _to_ wander, to stir up star stuff and leave worlds shuddering in her wake, and yet never feel at ease in one place, never shrug the bags off her shoulders and heave a hefty sigh of relief as the door clicked closed behind.

_I’m home._


	2. Sway

Having once danced for the leering eyes of men, the ever-elusive warrior now performed solely of her own accord. There was magic in Mauh’s movement forged through this newfound freedom, and forgoing the traditional bow in favor of circular steel, her skilled steps could steal the heart of any onlooker.

The former legatus was not exempt.

“Practice,” as she referred to it in passing to retain secrecy, was as good a descriptor as any as she wielded pleasure to deliver pain. The recipient of today’s ire was a striking dummy wrought deep from the gashes of her deliverance. 

Gaius knew better than anyone the wrong end of the miqo’te’s weapon, and hesitated just a moment—a scarcely perceivable instant—to stand back and observe (pause and ponder, perhaps even admire) this flurry of moment before approaching as one would a cornered animal the dull thuds of cleft wood and gentle twinkle of her chains.


	3. Muster

As expected when traveling to the opposite ends of the earth, the Scions found the flora and fauna of Othard to be nothing short of strange, extraordinary, and oftentimes just as curious as themselves.

Such was decidedly the case when a large shape descended from the late afternoon sky.

“What on earth..?” Alisaie could scarcely utter before a cry unlike any other bellowed from the royal blue throat of the bird, one of many that were flocking around what was once thought to be a secluded spot for their brief respite.

Its brethren soon followed in a kingly chorus that had the trio covering their ears. The fragile peace in the Valley of the Fallen Rainbow was soundly broken.

Alphinaud had no choice but to shout, “Where did all of these peacocks come from?”

As the twins pondered the arrival of the iridescent avians, Mauh scavenged a stray tail feather from the ground.

“Peacocks are a sign of royalty,” she murmured, “they must have been left behind,”

“I can’t say I’m surprised,” the elder sibling sulked as she tickled his cheek with the tip. Alisaie couldn’t resist laughing at his expense.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> muster is the name for a group of peacocks ovo


	4. Clinch

“Is this really okay?” a seven year old Mauh stole glimpses at the open pasture between the rungs of the fence, “We’re not gonna get in trouble, are we..?”

Broken Cart Ranch was strictly off limits to the members of the A’ tribe, and with good reason. With livestock rustling on the rise, tensions ran high between the farmers and local miqo’te. Children were most definitely not allowed to be here. And yet..

Lifting the lowest stake to create a cub-sized opening, A’arat Tia scowled, “Why? Don’t tell me you’re a.. scaredy cat?”

Try as she might to scowl, Mauh had a hard time being and staying annoyed with her adoptive brother. When the majority of Sun Seekers dismissed the little Moon Keeper as a burden and a chore, the child’s innocence allowed them to become fast friends.

The pair still had their differences, however, and while he was positively vibrating with energy, Mauh wiped the sweat from her brow and withered beneath the desert sun.

“..I just don’t think it’s a good idea..”

“Yeah, whatever! I’ll take the blame if they find out! Just hurry up!”

The brush scratched their ankles as they stumbled out into the fields and the coast clear to spot where a behemoth among birds towered grazing nearby. If it was aware of the pair’s approach, the chocobo twitched nary a feather.

“That’s the biggest chocobo I’ve ever seen..”

“Yeah. And I’m gonna ride it,” he grinned from ear to ear, “but I need your help.”

“My help? ..But.. what can I do?”

“We need a distraction.” Digging through his pockets, the boy plopped a suspiciously soft apple into the palm of her hand.

“I’ve been saving this for a while. When I sneak up behind him, you show him the bait!”

A’arat was already too close for comfort before she could reject the idea.

“W-wa—..” This was bad! Kind as his sentiment was, there was no doubt in the outsider’s mind that the blame behind any accident would be dropped on her tiny shoulders.

Mauh was left with no choice but to walk.

Shuffling her feet one step at a time, she angled her head as far away from her trembling hands as possible to avoid getting her eyes pecked out. It was difficult to judge the distance to go until the fruit evaporated from her hands. Mauh didn’t dare blink until she heard the snap and crunch of that powerful beak at work. She did it!

..Alas, this tiny victory was short-lived.

“Yeeeee-HAA—” “Get the hell off my property, you rotten fleabags! I’ll shoot!”

A’arat was caught mid-touchdown when a stout red man rolled down the hill, rifle cocked and ready. 

Hot, molten fear splashed in Mauh’s belly. Reflexively, she yanked her little brother behind her.

“We-we.. Go-now..”

“Huh?! Speak up!”

While she failed to make a convincing case for their shenanigans, an even rounder woman huffed close behind her husband.

“Now, wait just a.. them’s just kids!”

“S-so?” the rancher rubbed his single, cloudy eye, “no trespassin’!”

“Deacon!” wrenching the weapon from his grasp, the wife shooed the pair off before anything else could go horribly wrong, “Get on! Get!”

They didn’t need to be told twice.

Scrambling until the ranch was but a speck on the horizon behind them, Mauh stopped to console her clearly shaken brother.

“You were brave..”

“I thought we were chocobo food.. promise you won’t tell dad?”

“I promise,”

Sealing their agreement with a pinky swear, A’arat was back to his usual self in record time. Strolling into their village with his arms behind his head, he caught her attention with a swish of his tail.

“A’zemya?”

“..Yes?”

“You were pretty brave, too.”

“..Thanks.”


	5. Matter of Fact

Suppressing the tears that pricked at her eyes proved as much a challenge as Mauh feared as she strolled side by side with the forlorn child.

“It’s been quiet now that everyone’s gone.. O-oh, but I’m not complaining! There is still plenty to do..” 

Clutched tightly in Ryne’s hand was the pearl necklace that ventured across space and time to reach her. While Mauh did not know if Thancred meant it so, she’d be hard pressed to imagine a more fitting image—once coddled by Ran’jit within the shell of Eulmore’s false paradise—now established as a loyal ally through her quiet strength.

“Everyone is thinking of you,” as the cautious bearer of news both good and bad, the miqo’te stated that much with utmost certainty.

“..Really?”

“Really. Thancred, Urianger, Y’stola, the twins..” 

Ryne’s lip began to tremble. Shit. What had she done? 

As the young girl folded against her, The Warrior of Light rested a hand upon her trembling back.

“I’m glad.. So glad,”


	6. Nonagenarian

Age was just a number, they said, but as she laid by side with her lover Mauh did not necessarily agree. Brushing the dark strands from his wizened face that in their coupling fell askew, the hint of grey sprouting from Gaius’s scalp didn’t escape her notice. 

She gave it a kiss, knowing fully well that once she burned both ends of the summer of her life, the broad shoulders and brawny arms she called home would wither in their parallel winter—that pride and posture, bite and bark would fade into tired complacency.

Having tucked one lover into an early grave, she was in no rush to part with another. But for now, she nestled a little deeper, a little closer against the tick of his imminent mortality.


End file.
